I was born in Oregon on a nice summer day, June the seventh 1951 according to the official paper work, although I don't really remember that much about it. After about three days the nice folks at the hospital said they had all of me they needed so my folks took me "home". Home was a smallish, by today's standards, log house out in the country that my Grampa and my daddy had built in 1946. It was a simple house made out of poles that grampa had hauled down from the nearby mountains on the...

Every day more and more people are choosing to become energy independent and less dependent on the electrical grid. Even those who choose to remain connected to the grid (Grid Tied), are opting to add some form of alternative energy to reduce their utility bills and become less dependent on the electrical grid. Some are choosing to completely disconnect from the electrical grid, or may not even have access to an electrical grid. Today, Solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels and/or Wind turbines are...

We are all familiar with Solar Energy (Photovoltaic - PV) for generation of electrical power. In fact, solar energy has become so well-known and utilized that it will soon surpass fossil fuel as the most economical energy source within the next decade. That is good news, but what about when there is no sunlight? Up here in the Northwest (and many other places), there are long periods when there is limited sunlight. Ask any solar power user, and they will tell you that when there is no...

One of the biggest frustrations these days is that internet speeds haven't gone up everywhere. Not everyone has access to high speed being away unless they are a lot closer to their neighbors than I care to be. @Ava posted a thread about AT&T having a Mobley ZTE device that could help this issue, and I knew I had to try it for myself.
I don't have AT&T cell phone service, but this didn't stop me from ordering it directly from the website. (link). Based on the forum advice, I went with a...